Episode 187: The Disappearance of Lynn Burdick
Composite sketches of a possible suspect in Lynn’s disappearance
18-year-old Lynn Burdick was a senior at McCann Vocational Technical High School. She was incredibly smart, had great grades and was set to graduate with high honors. She was kind, hardworking and responsible, juggling school, work and taking care of her chronically ill mother as she had emphysema. Her home in Florida, Massachusetts was on 25 acres of land, and the family had farm animals and would grow vegetables like turnips, corn and potatoes. Lynn was known by classmates and family as being shy, and she was a homebody and loved spending time with her family. Despite being shy, she was very outgoing when it came to offering her time to help others. She babysat children in the neighborhood as well as her nieces and nephews of her three older siblings, and she prided herself in helping out at church and participating in charity events for muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy. Lynn’s plans after high school were to stay at home to take care of her mom and work when she could to save money to eventually put herself through college.
At the time of her disappearance, Lynn wasn’t dating anyone and didn’t have a driver’s license or a car. Lynn worked as a clerk part-time at The Barefoot Peddler Country Store, a small convenience store in Florida, Massachusetts owned by her cousin, Gary Burdick, and his wife Sue. The store was on the corner of Route 2 and Central Shaft Road, just several hundred yards from Lynn’s home. In a town of roughly 700 people, this was the only store in the area. On April 17th, 1982, Lynn was at the store working by herself. She had recently turned 18 in February, and before this she wasn’t able to work alone as she couldn’t sell beer and cigarettes under the age of 18. This was the first time working a closing shift on her own. She typically worked with her best friend Theresa, but she wasn’t available that day. Gary’s wife Sue was worried about Lynn being there alone, but wasn’t able to swing by as she was home taking care of a sick child.
Sue called the store and spoke to Lynn at around 8:00 p.m. and Lynn assured her that it had been a slow night due to the rain and she would close the store on time. At around 8:10 p.m., Sue heard the bell over the door ring, indicating that a customer had walked in. Lynn told her she needed to assist the customer and would call her after she closed the store. That call never came. Lynn’s dad called the store at 8:30 p.m. and Lynn didn’t answer. Ten minutes later, a customer who was local to the town and knew Lynn and her family arrived at the store to find the front door open and the store abandoned. He called Lynn’s family, who called the police and then rushed to the store.
Lynn’s high school jacket and purse were missing, but her book she was reading was left open on the counter with a half-empty can of soda. $187 was also missing from the cash register, but the extra cash hidden under the counter was untouched. It was clear to police and anyone who knew Lynn that she hadn’t run away and something bad had happened.
On the night Lynn disappeared, an unidentified male approached a college-age girl near Florida, Massachusetts in the town of Williamstown and attempted to abduct her. The man tried to force the girl into his car at around 7:00 p.m., but she was able to fight him off and get away. He was believed to be heading to Florida, Massachusetts, just 13 miles from the attempted abduction, on Route 2. The country store Lynn was working at was on Route 2, and police feel that the man may have been searching for another victim after he was unsuccessful with the abduction in Williamstown.
Lynn’s family, police and members of the town searched for weeks for any sign of her, but there have been no further leads in her disappearance.
In 1995, Lynn’s dad received an anonymous letter postmarked from Boston from a man who said his daughter had been abducted and then murdered by a man in North Adams, Massachusetts. The man who wrote the letter was anonymous, but police were able to figure out the suspect named in the letter for the man’s daughter’s abduction and murder. The man who wrote the letter has not come forward and has not been identified. Police located the suspect mentioned in the letter and he was questioned, but police weren’t able to find any evidence that he was responsible for Lynn’s disappearance.
Lynn’s parents never gave up on finding their daughter. They always kept the porch light on in case Lynn ever came home. Fay, Lynn’s older sister, stated “Every time my dad went out, he was always looking. Their dying breath was to find her and bring her home.” Lynn’s mom died in 1990 and her dad died in 2012. Lynn’s older brother Brian now lives in the family’s home, and he still leaves the light on for her.
At the time of her disappearance, Lynn was 5’4” and 115lbs. She had brown hair and blue eyes and wore glasses. She was possibly wearing a McCann Technical Vocational High School jacket and had a McCann Vocational Technical High School class ring with a blue stone and her initials or name engraved on it. She was last seen wearing a blue and yellow checkered shirt, dungarees, and white sneakers. Lynn also had extensive dental work done.
Anyone with any information on the disappearance of Lynn Burdick is asked to please call the Berkshire State Police Detective Unit at 413-499-1112.
Image sources:
nbcnews.com - “40 years later, family hoping for new leads in the April 1982 disappearance of Lynn Burdick in Florida, Massachusetts”
berkshireeagle.com - “This is what a suspect in Lynn Burdick’s disappearance might look like today”